Vacation

All three readers of my blog are probably wondering why I haven't written since Monday. Well, I hate all of you. Just kidding. Actually, I am on vacation from work, and since I work from home, the thing I can actually do to make it seem like I'm really on vacation, and just not goofing off is to avoid all computer contact whatsoevery. I am stopping by occasionally just to say hello, like today.

Fat Bearded guy on the loose.

And no, I am not talking about Santa Claus. I am talking about Michael Moore who appears to be making a movie called "Sicko" about the healthcare industry.

The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that at least six drug companies have released internal communications telling employees to be wary of filmmaker Michael Moore (search).

Moore's targets have included General Motors (search) ("Roger & Me"), the gun lobby (the Oscar-winning "Bowling for Columbine") and President Bush ("Fahrenheit 9/11").

Moore, normally seen sporting a beard and a ball cap, has now set his sights on the health care industry, including insurance companies, HMOs, the Food and Drug Administration (search) and drug companies.

Though I agree some changes need to be done to the healthcare industry, and especially the FDA (which is afterall, government at its best), I really don't think the guy who brought you Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 911 is the guy to give it the fair shake it needs.

My purse

I don't own one, but I have been on occasion seen carrying a bag or briefcase of some sort, which people who don't know that my Coach Embassy brief is actually a briefcase and not a purse.

Here is your guide to buying the man in your life, a purse.

For the person who has everything

And for you last minute shoppers, this laser pointer will more than do the job.

Maybe, I should get one for my sister.

Difference between a coating and snow

It seems a certain Blue Eyed Texan doesn't know what snow is.

I will refresh your memory.

Penn State or State Penn?

I've about had it with Penn State University. The only care about themselves. They are a bloated monster. The trustees and President Graham Spanier complain about a lack of state funding for operations. I say let them starve.

Through my personal dealing with Penn State as a board member on an Alumni council I've had my fill with them. But what they did to my sister takes the cake. I'm returning my alumni license plate.

A few weeks ago, my sister who is a junior at Penn State Harrisburg, was writing her term paper for a criminal justice class. She was encouraged to use many articles, including on-line articles. In citing an online journal article, she does what many of us bloggers do-she clipped a section of the article into her work, but in one particular case (amounting to about a half a page of a 9 page paper) she forgot to cite her source.

The professor, a Mr. Razor Jameson (name changed to protect the innocents), took it upon himself to submit her name for academic integrity. The possible outcome would be she would receive an F for the course. She fought it, asking for her case to go to academic review board. Her case went to the academic review board and they found in favor of her professor. She only submitted a letter to the board, and was not permitted to speak to the board, or even know who was on the board. Total lack of due process.

The F in her class took her GPA down from a 3.8 to a 3.3; hurting her chances for graduate school, as the minimum GPA for the school she was looking at is 3.5.

There have been many issues at Penn State regarding the school looking out for their own, most recently at Penn State Altoona. Same thing. A Kangaroo Court. No justice. And a woman taken to the woodshed.

I went to Penn State, as did my mother, and now my sister. I have had friends railroaded in a very similar manner. My mother ( who has a Ph. D.) even teaches at Penn State, and has in the past, let similar infractions by her students go. Chalking them up to just error of the overworked mind.

My mother has even had issue with Penn State's cover-ups of sexual harassment issues. Some involving her directly.

All three of us are totally disillusioned. It seems there is nothing we can do to correct the situations at this University, or even try to confront those responsible. Letters to the President come back in a canned "screw your opinion" mode.

President Bush the Lardass

Well, I think I've mentioned it before, the Body Mass index of deciding if you are fat, obese, or Kate Moss, is flawed. It doesn't take into account any sort of phisical fitness. Thin celebs like Russel Crowe and Tom Cruise are labeled as overweight. They are in good company, it appears that according to the stupid BMI scale President Bush, who'se resting heartrate is better than some olympians, is overweight.

To see how you stack up to all the fatties and obese in Hollywood, click here

While his personal physicians proclaimed him in “superior health,” President Bush, who bikes up to 120 miles a week and once graced the cover of Runner’s World, is the victim of the very flawed standard that is fueling the over-hyped “obesity epidemic” today.

This standard, called the Body Mass Index (BMI), is decidedly faulty since it only takes height and weight, and not muscle mass, into consideration. A BMI over 25 means you’re “overweight” and over 30 means you’re “obese.” The President, with a BMI of 27, is officially overweight, but in good fat company; Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, with a BMI of 33, is considered “obese” and celebrities like Matt Damon, Will Smith, and Bruce Willis are also in the “overweight” category.

I know people who went to the doctors one month, actually lost a few pounds, but still went from normal to overweight. How can you lose pounds but be considerd fatter? Let the FDA make the rules. The same ones who couldn't tell that Vioxx and Celebrex were going to kill you. (just like cookies it appears)

Now, I admit. I'm not The Thin Man. Hardly. I know I eat too much and move too little. But I generally watch what I eat, and I walk about 1-2 miles a day, depending on the weather.

According to the Government at 6'0'' and about 225 pounds, with a BMI, I am Obese and should be suing someone. And also according to the BMI index I could lose 90 pounds and still be considered "normal". WTF?? If I only weighed 135 they would arrest my wife for not feeding me. Another thing, the image these BMI nazis are trying to promote is the skinny heroin addict look. You wonder why young girls who may eat their meat and potatoes and don't look that way get a complex.

I also hear that we need to expand school lunch programs because 1/3 of school kids are hungry. But also I've heard that 3/4 of kids in school are obese. What is it. Are they starvin or too fat?

My Philly Trip

I thought I'd share some photos of my trip to Philly. Primarily a shopping trip. it was also to see a few sites.

	One of the first things I did Saturday morning was tour the PA Masonic Temple a massive beautiful building right on 1 North Broad Street. This building was amazing, with huge 1 ton brass doors, cast iron stairs and 7 of the most beautiful lodge rooms I've ever seen. Here I am in on my my favorites. The Egyption Hall
	Another thing I do everytime I go to Philly is to go to Lord and Taylor's for shopping and to see the world's largest pipe organ. The John Wanamaker Organ. With 31,000 pipes this moster more than filles the grand court of the Lord and Taylor shoping center.
	More about the organ. This monster was built in 1904 for the St. Louis exposition, moved to Philadelphia for the John Wanamaker's in Philly. Played every day since then, this has become a must-see for any visitors to Broad and Market in Philly. I also learned from the organist the three buttons that the store doesn't allow them to use. Tutti F, Tutti FF, and Tutti FFF. Tutti means everything, and F, FF, and FFF, mean loud, louder, and bring down the walls loud. And yes, they build on one another. If you push all three you will probably break glass and bring the phantom of the opera out of his hiding spot.

Lord of the Dweebs

Everyone has been going nuts for the Lord of The Rings Trilogy that was thrust upon us. I understand they are faithful adaptations of the books, and made well, but I can't seem to get into them.

I guess because I never played Dungeons and Dragons and never dressed up as warlocks, nor was I ever involved in live action Vampire: The Gathering games, and I never understodd Dr. Who I guess I can't see the point of these books.

Well, I shouldn't talk. I really love the Harry Potter books and movies. But at least the Harry Potter books and the ensuing movies are easy stories to read. From what I attempted to read of LOTR they are overblown, overwritten yarns that were written in the style of a babbling high on weed Tom Clancy.

If LOTR isn't enough to thrust upon the citizens of Middle Earth America, we have a new movie coming out. The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy. Now when I was growing up, I didn't have cable for a while, and was forced to sometimes watch Publik Broadcasting Stations. And I saw a bit of the British TV series of the same name. I didn't get it.

Am I just normal, or are the people who have screen names of FrodoPA the ones are the normal people here?

Merry War, Christmas is Over

So my Tree Farm is closed for the year. We had a rough growing season a few years ago, and this year's stock was small, so we are a little short.

We have a closed sign up and stupid asshole customers still decide they want tree.

They knock on the door, like this lady has been for the past 30 minutes, but I won't answer. They peer in the windows. But I ignore them.

At least they don't come in the house anymore. I lock the doors.

Stupid people. Go away.

Red, the New Yellow

Every trendy person has one of those Lance Armstrong Livestrong bracelets. It is for a very good cause. Cancer research.

Another good cause that you can support and be equally trendy is the My Soldier Campaign. This is a campaign where you "adopt" a soldier. You receive contact information for a soldier, guidelines for building a care package, and other useful information. You also get a red bracelet to wear to show your support for troops.

Check it out.

Lunch with Enemies

I love the people I work with. Even though a bunch of them are hippy liberal types, they are great people who actually can think logically.

Sarah on the other hand doesn't live in Gattica. She managed to fluster a lib by making the lib's argument fit their situation.

Kudos.

Site Redesign

I decided to do a quick and dirty redesign of my site. I was looking at other sites changing up their looks for the new year, and I wanted to be a lemming.

Please drop me a line if it looks funny. I am too lazy to check it across platforms. That would require me to lug out the ol Dell laptop, which I don't want to do.

Polite way to say I hate America

I almost needed Duct tape when I read this story.

LANCASTER, Pa. At least one Pennsylvania Democrat is having a hard time getting over President Bush's re-election.
A city councilman in Lancaster is demanding that photos of the president be removed from a stand in the town's farmers market. Councilman Nelson Polite says the city needs what he calls a "healing period" following the bitterly contested election.

But David Stoltzfus is refusing to remove the photos from his bakery stand, and Polite has threatened to enact a city law against political material in public places.

The town's Republican mayor says the flap is bad for tourism in the Amish country town.

But the baker is enjoying the attention, saying even some Democrats want him to keep the photos in place

George Bush is the President of the United States. If you don't like it tough. He won election so this guy has every right to have a picture of the leader of OUR country.

Where is the ACLU trying to protect Mr. Stolzfus's rights?

Oh, that's right. They are trying to sue a school for trying to teach Creation in addition to Evolution and the Big Bang.

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The state American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Tuesday against a Pennsylvania school district to stop it from teaching an alternative theory of evolution that many say is just another form of creationism.

  SURVEY

Should students be required to learn a theory of creation by a divine being?
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The lawsuit stems from the Dover Area School Board's decision to mandate the teacher of an alternative theory to evolution. The theory, called intelligent design, holds that the complexity of the universe suggests creation by a divine being rather than through evolution.

The School Board voted 6-3 on Oct. 18 to include this curriculum in its biology class.

Six of the 11 school parents who are plaintiffs took part in a press conference Tuesday at the state Capitol. Angie Yingling is one of those parents. She said the School Board established the curriculum for religious reasons, not to improve science education.

"I believe it's wrong to introduce a non-scientific explanation of the origins of life into the science curriculum," Yingling said

Ok Ms. DinaLing, so the schools aren't supposed to teach a "non scientific" explanation. It's called a theory. It's probably correct, but who the hell knows. Also the new curriculum they are going to teach is also called a theory. Theory of creationism.

Schools are meant to foster thought by promoting several viewpoints, not just the one that doesn't anger people like Mrs Yingling.

When we start defining what is taught in schools based the the tyranny of the few we will have schools systems similar to the ones in Russia, Nazi Germany, and the Islamofascist world where only a "popular" viewpoint is taught.

Target of my Disgust

I wrote targat a letter over their refusal to allow the Salvation Army to ring bells in front of there stores. I really like what the Salvation Army does. When my mom's house burned down, they gave us clothes, toys (as it was a few weeks before Christmas) and really took care of us.

Here is what they said:

I appreciate the opportunity to respond to your e-mail to Target. Like many nationwide retailers, Target Corporation has a long-standing "no solicitation" policy that it consistently applies to all organizations across all of its stores.

We receive an increasing number of solicitation inquiries from non-profit organizations and other groups each year and determined that if we continue to allow the Salvation Army to solicit then it opens the door to any other groups that wish to solicit our guests. While some of our guests may welcome the opportunity to support their favorite charity or cause, allowing these organizations to solicit means that Target would also have to permit solicitation by organizations whose cause or behavior may be unacceptable to our guests.

We notified the Salvation Army of our decision in January 2004, well in advance of the holiday season, so the organization would have time to find alternative fundraising sources. Target also asked the Salvation Army to look at other ways that we could support their organization under our corporate giving guidelines. To this date they have not provided a proposal that fits those guidelines.

Local Salvation Army chapters can apply for grants through their local Target stores. For decades, many non-profit organizations across the country have successfully worked with Target in this manner. We are asking the Salvation Army to work with us in the same exact manner as the other groups and organizations who ask to solicit our guests.

This decision in no way diminishes Target Corporation's commitment to its communities. Target has one of the largest corporate philanthropy programs in America, donating more than $2 million per week and hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours each year to the communities in which it does business.

I really hate Target. I will never shop there again.

The Common Voice has a different spin on the situation. It seems that people who can't afford a dollar for charity after buying a pack of cigarettes bitch and moan.

He says it's boycotting when we don't want to shop at a place that doesn't allow soliciting. It IS their right as a store to not allow solicitors, just as it's my right to say screw you to Target.

My cat can't open the fridge

I hate those newsletters people send out every Christmas time that tell about little Susie and Johnny, and thier exploits at summer camp and little league.

It seems I'm not the only one who hates them

LONDON (Reuters) - Hearts sink at Christmas when the postman brings tales of Tamsin's sparkling exam results and Jeremy's dizzying ascent of the corporate ladder.

It was a miracle they had time to achieve so much in between the Swiss skiing holiday, the anniversary trip to New Zealand and summer at "our little place" in Italy.

Surely nothing is quite so loathed by so many as the round robin letter?

Now recipients have taken their revenge, sending thousands of the smug circulars to British journalist Simon Hoggart who has collated them in what he calls a curmudgeon's guide.

It is entitled "The Cat That Could Open The Fridge" after a couple whose disastrous year was capped by their cat Mr Snugglekins learning to open the new fridge and help himself.

Oh, I love them. If I want to read someone's life story I'll visit Helen at Everyday Stranger. Which I do occasionally, but am not obligated to. You see when people send you those stupid letters you HAVE to read them because they will then call you and ask you what you thought of their son winning the pinewood derby at scouts.

Plus I really don't care for kids. They are loud, smell funny, and break things. They really annoy me. I don't have any, mainly because I have 7 younger brothers and sisters. My youngest sibling is 7, and she can often be a pain in the ass.

Brotherly Love

I am about burned out. I am tired of being a Tree Farmer. I am glad we are all sold out of sizeable trees. We did have a slight problem with the Concolor Firs, they seemed to lose their needles because of the lack of cold weather to set their needles.

Anyways. I am planning a fun and exciting weekend in Philadelphia this weekend. Leaving Friday and returning Sunday. I have some things I want to do. See if you can guess what they are from the following pictures.

Well, first I am going to Lord and Taylor to see the Christmas Light Show and the John Wanamker Organ, the largest pipe organ in the world

Second, I am going to tour the PA Grand Lodge Masonic Temple.

A Radio Legend

A radio legend has died. The voice of WBZ, Boston, David Brudnoy has died.

David Brudnoy Has Died at 64

Dec 8, 2004 2:53 pm US/Eastern
Saying Good-Bye: Gary LaPierre interviews David Brudnoy on December 8, 2004

A tribute to David Brudnoy

David Brudnoy passed away at 6:11pm. He was 64. David Brudnoy grew up in Minneapolis in the 1940s and 50s -- the only child of Harry and Doris Brudnoy. Harry was a dentist; Doris, a homemaker.

He went to Yale, then to graduate school at Harvard. He taught briefly at a Black College in Texas before moving back to Boston to pursue his doctorate at Brandeis.

His academic career was short; in 1971 a friend suggested he audition for an opening as a commentator at WGBH, Boston’s public television station. David would later say he was the token conservative at the station.
Impressing everyone with his knowledge and articulation -- David won a full-time slot at WHDH Radio in 1976. Five years later, he jumped to a competitor, WRKO. And in 1986, found his home:

"WBZ's David Brudnoy"

When I got really into AM radio, one of the things I always loved to do in the evenings was listen to AM radio. If you know anything about AM radio you know that at night, the radio waves bounce off the Ionisphere and can travel hundreds of miles.

Living in Pennsylvania I would hear the 50,000 watt chear channel (clear channel meaning high power radio stations that boost their power at night--not the Clear Channel company) and hear David Brudnoy.

Rest In Peace, my man.

Kids Rule, Parents Drool

When will the big one just take away the whole left coast and all those wacky judges?

It seems if you are a parent, you can't listen in on your child's phone conversation.

SEATTLE -- In a victory for rebellious teenagers everywhere, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a mother violated Washington's privacy act by eavesdropping on her daughter's phone conversation.

Privacy advocates hailed the ruling.

The mother, however, was unrepentant.

"It's ridiculous! Kids have more rights than parents these days," said mom Carmen Dixon, 47, of Friday Harbor. "My daughter was out of control, and that was the only way I could get information and keep track of her. I did it all the time."

The Supreme Court ruled that Dixon's testimony against a friend of her daughter should not have been admitted in court because it was based on the intercepted conversation. The justices unanimously ordered a new trial for Oliver Christensen, who had been convicted of second-degree robbery in part due to Dixon's testimony.

Orson Welles reincarnate?

So I was in the Wine and Spirits Shoppe, looking for a nice bottle of port when the gentleman behind the counter said I have a profile and that I carry myself similar to Orson Welles.

This this an insult, and if so, is it true?

We never did it

Here is an interesting story. It involves secret socities and such.

From http://www.meta-religion.com/Secret_societies/Groups/Illuminati/nasa_masonic_symbols.htm

To make interstellar travel believable NASA was created. The Apollo Space Program foisted the idea that man could travel to, and walk upon, the moon. Every Apollo mission was carefully rehearsed and then filmed in large sound stages at the Atomic Energy Commissions Top Secret test site in the Nevada Desert and in a secured and guarded sound stage at the Walt Disney Studios within which was a huge scale mock-up of the moon. All names, missions, landing sites, and events in the Apollo Space Program echoed the occult metaphors, rituals, and symbology of the Illuminati's secret religion. The most transparent was the faked explosion on the spacecraft Apollo 13, named "Aquarius" (new age) at 1:13 (1313 military time) on April 13, 1970 which was the metaphor for the initiation ceremony involving the death (explosion), placement in the coffin (period of uncertainty of their survival), communion with the spiritual world and the imparting of esoteric knowledge to the candidate (orbit and observation of the moon without physical contact), rebirth of the initiate (solution of problem and repairs), and the raising up (of the Phoenix, the new age of Aquarius) by the grip of the lions paw (reentry and recovery of Apollo 13). 13 is the number of death and rebirth, death and reincarnation, sacrifice, the Phoenix, the Christ (perfected soul imprisoned in matter), and the transition from the old to the new. Another revelation to those who understand the symbolic language of the Illuminati is the hidden meaning of the names of the Space Shuttles, "A Colombian Enterprise to Endeavor for the Discovery of Atlantis... and all Challengers shall be destroyed."

Exploration of the moon stopped because it was impossible to continue the hoax without being ultimately discovered. And of course they ran out of pre-filmed episodes.

No man has ever ascended higher than 300 miles, if that high, above the Earth's surface. No man has ever orbited, landed on, or walked upon the moon in any publicly known space program. If man has ever truly been to the moon it has been done in secret and with a far different technology.

I'd rather have a root canal

Did you ever hear someone say that they'd rather have a root canal than go to stupid asshole meetings?

Well, I got my wish on Monday. The meeting I was in was so bad that I literally was rather getting a root canal than go to it.

For the past two weeks or so my tooth hurt, and after a brief poking by my dentist and a cancer causing x-ray, I was informed of the need for a fun day changing root canal.

At least I got out of the stupid asshole meeting.

Just so you know

So you are not worried about me, and don't think I died or anything. I am still alive. I have just been forced to go to (to quote a fellow blogger) Stupid Asshole Meetings.

I will write more on Wednesday the 8th with a special tribute to Hanukkah.